Butter-separator.



G. E. WHEELER.

BUTTER SEPARATOR.

APPLIQATION FILED 00T.24, 191'3. 1,098,75 1. Patented Apr. 21, 191

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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Witnesses Inventor N 1 by a 6 E Z Attorneys cpwMmA PLANOGRAPH co..WASHINGTON. n. C

G. E. WHEELER.

BUTTER SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED 001x24, 191s,

Patented Apr. 21, 191i 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Witnesses Attorneys \JOLUMBIA FLANOGRAPH CO.,WASHINGTDN. D. (:-V

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. WHEELER, 0]? BURLINGTON, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO THE BURLINGTONSEPARATOR 00., 0F BURLINGTON, IOW'A, A CORPORATION OF IOWA.

BUTTER-SEPARATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 24, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. WHEELER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Burlington, in the county of Des Momes and State of Iowa,have invented a new and useful Butter-Separator, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to butter separators of that type utilizing meansfor aerating the cream or milk in the formation of butter, one of theobjects of the invention being to simplify and otherwise improve uponseparators of this type such as heretofore devised by providing meanswhereby an increased circulation of air downwardly into the cream ormilk is produced by the rotation of the dasher and whereby the aerationof the milk or cream is rendered more ellicient by a better distributionof the down flowing air through the body of liquid.

A further object is to provide a butter separator having means wherebythe dasher can be easily removed and whereby the dasher can be readilyadjusted vertically so as to bring it to any desired position within thecontainer of the separator and, upon the completion of the formation ofbutter, to lower it within the container to permit the butter to beremoved from above the dasher.

A further object is to provide a separator having improved means forfacilitating the admission of air thereto, the dasher being so shaped asto draw the air rapidly down to the deflecting angles of the disks ofthe dasher whereby to force the air out horizontally through the liquid.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made! within thescope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred forms of the invention havebeen shown.

In said drawings :Figure 1 is a View partly in section and partly inelevation of the separator. Fig. 2 is a View partly in plan and partlyin section of the separator. Fig. 3 a plan view of the dasher, the samebeing of a six flute type. Fig. 1 is an end view thereof. Fig. 5 is asection through the upper end portion of the tubular dasher stem. Fig. 6is a similar view showing a modified form of dasher stem. Fig. 7 is aview partly in plan and partly in section of a modified form of dasher.Fig. 8 is an end view of the dasher shown in Fig. 7.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates a baseof any preferred form and this base is provided with a recess 2 ofcircular or other desired form and constituting a seat for the bottom ofa container 3. A portion of the base is eX- tended outwardly, as shownat t and may be provided with spaced eyes 5 adapted to receive standards6. These standards are adjustable longitudinally within the eyes and canbe securely held in any suitable manner, as by means of set screws 7extending into the eyes or by means of pins fixedly mounted. Additionaleyes 8 are provided upon the'base 1 at diametrically opposed points andreceij e standards 9 which can also be adjusted longitudinally and whichmay be held against displacement in any desired manner, as by set screws10, pins, or the like. The standards 9 are secured to the end portionsof a cross bar 11 and a tubular arm 12 extends from a housing 13 formedon the cross bar, said arm being disposed at right angles to the bar.

Standards 6 extend upwardly to a cross strip 1l and then convergeupwardly to the tubular arm 12, the said strip 14 having a stud 15extending therefrom and on which is .jo-urnaled an internal gear 16meshing with a pinion 17. This pinion is secured to a shaft 18 journaledin the arm 12 and eX- tending into housing 13, there being a bevel gear19 within the housing and upon the shaft 18. This bevel gear meshes witha smaller gear 0 secured to a vertical shaft 21 which is journaled atits upper end in the top of housing 13 and at its lower end in a stepbearing 22 formed on the center of the bottom of container 3.

Instead of utilizing the step bearing 22, the shaft 21 can be journaledsolely within the housing 13 so as thus to be free of any supportingmeans within the container 3.

A crank arm 23 is connected to internal gear 16 and by means thereofsaid gear can be rotated so that motion will be transmitted through gear17 and shaft 18 and gears 19 and 20 to shaft 21, the last named shaftthus being rotated at a high speed.

The dasher used in connection with the parts hereinbefore describedconsists of two opposed disks which can be like or unlike, as desired,stamped from sheet metal or east, as preferred. It is to be understoodthat under some conditions it might be desired to use two opposed diskswhich are cast in one piece with the air passages cored out or may bemade in any other suitable manner. The lower disk 24; and the upper disk25 have registering channel portions formed in the meeting faces thereofand extending radially in the disks. These channeled portions form airdeflecting angles, as shown particularly in Fig. 3, extending frompoints close to the centers of the disks and outwardly to theperipheries thereof, thus constituting radial passages to which air issupplied as hereinafter described and from las which air will bedischarged with great force in jets or in a continuous horizontal sheetduring the rapid rotation of the dasher, the amount of air dischargedbeing dependent upon the size of the passages. The meeting portions ofthe two disks can be held together in any preferred manner, as by meansof rivets, solder or the like or, as before stated, the two disks can becast in one piece. It is preferred to use from six to eight of theseradial passages although it is to be understood that a smaller numbermay be employed in smaller machines while in very large machines agreater number can be used. It will be noted by referring to Fig. 4,that the grooves or channels in the two disks are of the same area andthus register exactly when in proper position one upon the other. Ifdesired, however, the lower disk may have broad channels registeringwith the grooves in the upper disk. Furthermore it will be seen that thesides of the channels or grooves are inclined so that the correspondingwalls of two registering channels will converge toward each other,whereby the outlet end of each passage formed by the disks is providedwith six sides. It has been found, by actual tests, that by formingpassages in this manner, a more efficient action of the air is producedin the operation of the dasher than can be had by the use of any otherknown form of dasher.

' In Figs. 3 and 4 the grooves in the disks have been indicated at 26-,the inclined walls at 27 and the meeting faces of the disks have beenindicated at 28. Rivets for securing the disks'together have been shownat 29.

Extending upwardly from and movable with the upper disk 25 is a tubularstem 29 spaced from the shaft 21 but concentric therewith, the upper endof the stem being secured within the lower end of a spherical head 30having elliptical inlet ports 31 in the wall thereof, there being atubular extension 82 at the upper end of the head which fits snugly onshaft 21 and. is adapted to be secured adjustably thereto by means of aset screw 33. The lower disk 2 1 of the dasher fits snugly upon but isadapted to slide on the shaft 21.

It will be apparent that after the dasher has been adjustedlongitudinally along shaft 21 so as to lie one or two inches below thesurface of the liquid in the container 2:3, the said dasher can berotated at a high speed by actuating gear 16 in the manner hereinbeforedescribed. During the rotation. of the dasher the air contained in thepassages between the disks 24- and 25 will be thrown outwardly bycentrifugal force in the form of jets, thus creating a suctiondownwardly through the stem 29 and the ports 31. The jets of air thusthrown outwardly will be distributed evenly within the liquid in thecontainer and in rising will operate to separate the fatty globules andthese globules will rise to the surface of the liquid and form butter asordinarily.

It has been found by actual tests that by having the passages in thedasher with converging side walls, the air contained in the passages isthrown outwardly with greater force than would otherwise take place,this being particularly true where the passages are extendedcontinuously from the periphery of the disk inwardly to points close tothe center thereof. It has been found, furthermore, that by utilizing aspherical head 30 with the elliptical inlet ports 31, the air is free toenter the stem29 with less resistance than by the use of any otherconstruction heretofore used. By utilizing a dasher such as set forth ithas been possible for me to complete the formation of butter in fromthirty to fifty seconds after beginning the operation of the dasher.

Another form of dasher has been shown in Figs. 7 and 8 wherein insteadof providing upper and lower disks with channels or grooves formedtherein, either flat or corrugated upper and lower disks 34: areeinployed, these disks being spaced apart by substantially ellipticalblocks 35, formed of solid or hollow pieces of wood, metal 0' any othersuitable material and which produce passages between them, as shown. Theoperation of this structure is somewhat similar to that of the dashershown in Figs. 8 and 4-. This type of dasher may have three to eight ormore passages, according to the size of the machine. As shown, the disks3 1 are provided upon their outer faces with outwardly diverging wingsor breakers 39 preferably curved so that, when the dasher is rotated ineither direction, the liquid directly above and below the dasher will beengaged by the advancing convex faces of the wings and deflectedoutwardly away from the dasher. The blocks 35 are so shaped as to expelthe air with equal eflicicncy when the dasher is rotated in eitherdirection.

Instead of utilizing a spherical head at the upper end of the dasherstem, said upper end can be made conical as shown at 36 in Fig. 6 andangular openings 37 may be provided in this conical end and extendeddownwardly into the stem. This form of inlet opening will also permitair to enter the stem freely. In this construction the reduced upper endof the stem is held securely to the shaft 21 by means of a set screw 38,or the like.

W hat is claimed is 1. A. butter separator including a container, ashaft extending thereinto, means for rotating the shaft in eitherdirection, and a dasher revoluble with the shaft and including upper andlower disks having spaced portions forming non-communicating radial airpassages extending from the centers of the disks to the peripheriesthereof, a tubular stem projecting upwardly from one of the disks andconcentric wit-h the shaft, a spherical head at the upper end of thestem and having an air inlet port, and means for holding the dasheragainst sliding movement on the shaft, said dasher operating with equaleificiency, .when rotated in either direction, for discharging airtherefrom and into the container.

2. A butter separator including a container, a shaft extendingthereinto, means for rotating the shaft, and a dasher revoluble with theshaft and including upper and lower disks having registering radialgrooves forming non-communicating passages, the Walls of the groovesbeing inclined, the corresponding walls of opposed grooves convergingtoward each other to pack air at one side of each passage during therotation of the dasher and to discharge air radially from the passage inthe form of a jet, said grooves extending from the centers to theperipheries of the disks, those portions of the disks between thegrooves being in contact and connected together, a tubular stemprojecting from the upper disk and concentric with the shaft,

there being an air inlet at the upper end of the stem, and means carriedby the stem for engaging the shaft to hold the dasher against slidingmovement.

A' butter separator including a container, a shaft extending thereinto,means for rotating the shaft, and a dasher revoluble with the shaft andincluding upper and lower disks having registering radial groovesforming non-communicating passages, the walls of the grooves beinginclined, the corresponding walls of opposed grooves converging towardeach other to pack air at one side of each passage during the rotationof the dasher and to discharge the air in a jet from the passage, saidgrooves extending from the centers to the peripheries of the disks,those portions of the disks between the grooves being in contact andconnected together, a tubular stem projecting from the upper disk andconcentric with the shaft, a spherical head at the upper end of the stemand having air inlets, said inlets being elliptical, and means above thehead for engaging the shaft to hold the dasher against sliding movementon the shaft.

4. In a separator the combination with standards, driving mechanismsupported thereby and a shaft actuated by the mechanism, of a basedetachably and adjustably mounted on the standards, a containersupported by the base, said shaft extending into the container, and adasher revoluble with the shaft and in the container, said dasherincluding spaced disks fixedly connected and forming radialnon-communicating passages therebetween extending from the center to theperiphery of the disks, a tubular stem projecting upwardly from one ofthe disks and concentric with the shaft, said stem having an air inletat its upper end, and means for holding the dasher against longitudinalmovement upon the shaft.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE E. WHEELER.

\Vitnesses G. Ross FRENCH, MARGARET J. MERCER.

Co ies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, I). 0.

